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One of the biggest stories world cricket has seen is unfolding - someone let England know

2023-07-05T09:45+10:00

Day 5 of the second Ashes Test could not have worked out better for England.

It’s a remarkable fact. The hosts, who entered the five-Test series as favourites, dropped the second Test by 43 runs and are subsequently down 2-0.

It’ll now take a miracle to win back the urn and a herculean effort to stop Australia from winning its first Ashes on England soil since 2001.

Pat Cummins, the most ridiculed man across England right now, is set to follow Steve Waugh as the only Australian captain to win an away Ashes series in the last 25 years.

That’s despite England for the last 12 months telling the world it is revolutionising Test cricket and loving doing so. Brendon McCullum brought his side into the Ashes having won seven of nine Tests since he took over, in strong enough form to have more expectations than the reigning World Test Champions.

No one could have foreshadowed a scenario where the English performance would be devoid of criticism if 2-0 down. Yet that’s where we largely find ourselves, barring a strong column from Kevin Pietersen.

England had no chance on the final day at Lord’s. Needing a further 257 runs in what would have been a record run chase with four wickets already down, they were no hope.

But they came away with everything they needed. Firstly, a Ben Stokes masterclass, a captain and figurehead the Poms could unite behind. The whole of Australia was sweating that Headingley 2019 was about to repeat itself when Steve Smith dropped the England skipper and it’s clear to see that when Stokes has his back to the wall, there may be no one better in world cricket. He just had too much to do at Lord's.

But it was the Jonny Bairstow controversy that saved England’s blushes. A furore that has ignited the game, seemingly leaving the manner in which it came about out of the question.

The English wicketkeeper wasn’t going to save his side. He’d passed 50 once in his last six innings before strolling out into the middle and averaged less than 16 runs in his last seven innings at Lord’s.

That number drops to just eight for his last six innings at the home of cricket.

So how do you manufacture an unwinnable situation into a victory? Claim the moral high ground and refuse to concede despite all the rhetoric from dozens of greats of the game, the laws of cricket and the umpire's call.

As much as Stuart Broad tried to claim otherwise, neither umpire had called over, as Marais Erasmus correctly adjudged when giving Bairstow out. That’s clear as day.

Even former England opener Mark Butcher believes so.

Did Australia want to win that way? Perhaps not. But Bairstow isn’t the first sportsperson to pay a price for a brain fade on the big stage.

The ability to stay in the moment when the pressure is on is the most important skill for anyone at the top level. Unfortunately for the 33-year-old, he couldn’t hack it and was rightly punished.

In the fiercest arena of world sport, no neutral fan or anyone in their right mind would expect Pat Cummins to call Jonny Bairstow back, as if the two best sides on the globe were playing Under-8s and giving everyone a fair go.

Bairstow blinked when he performed the most unnecessary action without following the first rule of cricket – stay in your crease.

The Australians can see it. The neutrals can see it. And even the biggest names in England cricket can see it.

Michael Vaughan, Andrew Strauss and Michael Atherton all had no issue with Carey’s stumping. Eoin Morgan’s reaction, in the commentary box alongside Mark Taylor for Sky, said it all at the time, and the former England captain was among Bairstow’s harshest critics when discussing the incident at lunch.

But that’s not the narrative run by the England press, famous across the globe for its vitriol.

Instead, the Stokes and McCullum agenda has been pushed, insinuating that the Australians had to break the rules to win and labelling the tourists cheats.

There will be no forgetting the front pages in England on Monday morning for some time.

When Australian cricket was at a low point last year with the Justin Langer saga, it was the Australian veterans against the current day players in the media cycle.

And it was the Ricky Pontings and Matthew Haydens of the world who drew more headlines, with Cummins copping a grilling for months.

Yet England has gone the other way in choosing to ignore the likes of Vaughan, Atherton, Morgan and more in bullying the Australians.

It’s an indication of just how brainwashed England and its press has become by BazBall. While numerous former players had remained somewhat hesitant, the public had dived right into the philosophies preached in hoping to believe in their national team once again.

Even the players don’t seem to understand the enormities of what is going to occur in the context of cricket history in the coming weeks.

Broad, James Anderson and Ollie Robinson have all penned articles in recent weeks. Across thousands of words, not one of them found room for a sentence to lament their side’s inability to pass 400 on two of the most batter-friendly pitches seen in recent memory. Not one of them spoke of how they're on track to be part of the first English Ashes bowling unit to be humiliated on home soil in years.

The world’s most aggressive press pack has turned a blind eye to the biggest unfolding story in world cricket.

With the series now heading to Headingley on what looks to be a green-top pitch, the worst outcome for England is a loss with no excuses.

If England tries to claim another ‘moral victory’ with more dramas, Anthony Albanese could become the most popular Prime Minister in Australian history by starting the process of Australia becoming a republic.

As always, you’ll hear every ball LIVE across the SEN Network and SEN App from Thursday, 7:00pm AEST.

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